mikevan

I have a nanner rescued from my FIL's patch here in central Texas. It was there when he moved in and he's not interested in maintaining them so I grabbed one. It's your generic green nanner - it gets a little taller than me before frost kills it back to the corm, so I've never seen it fruit. Non-descript green leaves with very slight red edges and a very faint hint of red on the midrib - mostly green tho. No variegation whatsoever from sprout to this size. I assume this is a Home-Depot/Walmart type nanner - but I'm not aware of the popular types of landscape nanners sold in this area - if there's such a thing of a standard landscape nanner. The only one's I've seen so far at area stores are the red variegated types. When it fruits, that'll be telling I hope - til then I'm left guessing. Any ideas? I'll post images when it flowers...

JoeS475

It looks a lot like a couple of my musa basjoos, with the midrib being a hint of red. There shouldn't be any splotches on the leaves, just uniform green. But the only real way to tell I guess will be when it fruits!

Good luck,

~Joe

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mikevan

Thanks Joe! Would a basjoo die back in mild Zone 8 winters? These die back after the first frost.

Be well,
Mike

JoeS475

Not sure, this is my first year growing them. I understand they will continue actively growing down to about 40 degrees, but at what point they die back I'm not sure. Mine stayed outside early this spring with lows at night of 38-39 and I had no problem, but I brought them in if it looked like it was going to be colder, so as not to risk harming them.

The experts are around here somewhere, I'm sure they'll be able to help better than me!

Regards,

~Joe

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Carolina

Far from being an expert, but I'd think if it were a basjoo it would grow much taller than you in a zone 8 single season. My basjoo, which was a pup in April is already as tall as I am with still several months left to grow. And I call him a wimp! Slow growing little bugger! Don't know what his problem is but he just doesn't measure up to other basjoo. And yes.. mulch good and a basjoo will come back.

JoeS475

I really hate New Jersey when it comes to growing tropicals... By mid- September most of my plants will need to be indoors! I swear I'm gonna find a job in nice warm Miami and grow them all year round! I'll even get fruit!

~Joe

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momoese

Aww, c'mon Joe, what kind of a challenge would that be. Now getting fruit in NJ, you would have people thinking your some kind of a magician! You'd for sure be the king of the block anyway!

Tony O

My musa basjoos don't die back after a frost. A lite frost will singe the leaves. A frreeze or hard frost will kill the leaves, but they will start pushing out new leaves if it doesn't frost for another week or so. A hard freeze will do them in till spring. Then it starts all over again.

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Zac in NC

That isn't basjoo. Looks liek an edible of some kind to me. Its too glaucous on the undersides of the leaves and on the pstem. Also it doesn't have the winged petioles that basjoo has. Maybe Gabe can help out on this one.

Zac

BobbyinNY

Here is a picture of my Dwarf Cavendish in Early May.... It is almost 3ft taller now..

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Basjoofriend

@Zac, you are right. Musa basjoo has winged petioles. I self have expericences with Musa basjoo in my yard since 2000. Last winter my first basjoo was killed back to the ground and came back with 14 new pups last spring. Now the plant is 5 feet tall, but grows quickly, it might be 7 or 8 feet tall at the end of this month. And the basjoo "Sakhalin" at my greenhouse has survived the past winter as the best, the pseudotrunks survived but cutten back to approx. 1/2 foot above the ground, they regrew by the telescope principe, now the tallest is as tall as me self, now as large as one mature Dwarf Cavendish on Tenerife.

I protect my basjoos and sikkis with a very thick mulch layer of straw, hedge cut, leaves, garden waste and dirt.

@JoeS475, I feel the same with you! I also hate cold climate, the climate is the problem to increase our banana collections. And I hate cold and dark winters. I try to start my own business and plan to emigrate to Southamerica. I currently learn Spanish and will also learn Portugese too. In December I will travel to Peru over the Christmas Days and New Year and check there. It will be great to celebrate the Christmas Days and New Year in the summer, in Southamerica the Christmas Days are always in the summer. I hope that you will find a new job in FL, CA, TX, GA or HI or start your own business. Then you sell your house and yard in New Jersey and buy a new house and yard or one banana plantation in the subtropics. Good luck!

Happy banana growing
Joachim